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leche's review against another edition
dark
sad
fast-paced
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civil6512's review against another edition
5.0
I find it hard to rate collections, as I end up rating the whole thing based on the merits of a few, but this... is simply awesome.
I discovered Reynolds thanks to Netflix's Love, Death & Robots, where two of his stories are adapted. I read one of them (Beyond the Aquila Rift), loved it and that convinced me to buy and read this: I'm so glad I did.
Many of the stories are quite long, getting enough "meat" to really submerge into amazing settings. Others hint at things, instead of painting an accurate detail. Some are set in a near future, others are so far apart from our time that it challenges comprehension...
Anyway: if you like Sci-Fi, make sure you give Alastair Reynolds a chance!
I discovered Reynolds thanks to Netflix's Love, Death & Robots, where two of his stories are adapted. I read one of them (Beyond the Aquila Rift), loved it and that convinced me to buy and read this: I'm so glad I did.
Many of the stories are quite long, getting enough "meat" to really submerge into amazing settings. Others hint at things, instead of painting an accurate detail. Some are set in a near future, others are so far apart from our time that it challenges comprehension...
Anyway: if you like Sci-Fi, make sure you give Alastair Reynolds a chance!
narzack's review
4.0
As expected from Alastair Reynolds, they're all great. The standout is the titular story.
andrejt's review
3.0
A pretty thick (781 pages) collection of hard sci-fi stories. Some of them are masterpieces; some of them are just OK. But all of them are thought-provoking.
fernandsasdf's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.75
kynan's review against another edition
4.0
I love the universes that Alastair Reynolds creates, and the stories he weaves in them so I was a little disappointed to see how short this story was (it's only an hour long, take note of the price as it's probably worth purchasing it rather than wasting a credit). Length complaints aside, this is a great story and I really enjoyed it. It vaguely echoes some of his other work but it's definitely new and interesting material, telling the story of some off-track astronauts, shuttling between brief vignettes of "now" and "not too long ago" with a nice psychological twist at the end to keep you wondering for a while.
That said, this audio version of it verges on terrible. I don't know if it's because I now unconsciously relate John Lee with Alistair Reynolds but the narrator (Tom Dheere) just didn't work for me. He sounded like he'd been challenged to read through the story as fast as possible and, to draw a traffic analogy, treated sentence ending punctuation much like a speedhump or chicane rather than stop signs or red lights. Additionally, the vignettes are separated by 15 seconds of music. WHY??? It's an audio version of a book, it doesn't need extra music or sounds effects, it just needs someone to read the words! If it's imperative to draw a distinction between separate passages then leave 2 seconds of silence to indicate it or something, don't start introducing lengthy chunks of foreign material where the author never intended them to be!
That said, this audio version of it verges on terrible. I don't know if it's because I now unconsciously relate John Lee with Alistair Reynolds but the narrator (Tom Dheere) just didn't work for me. He sounded like he'd been challenged to read through the story as fast as possible and, to draw a traffic analogy, treated sentence ending punctuation much like a speedhump or chicane rather than stop signs or red lights. Additionally, the vignettes are separated by 15 seconds of music. WHY??? It's an audio version of a book, it doesn't need extra music or sounds effects, it just needs someone to read the words! If it's imperative to draw a distinction between separate passages then leave 2 seconds of silence to indicate it or something, don't start introducing lengthy chunks of foreign material where the author never intended them to be!
rusty_roby's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
lyleblosser's review
5.0
This book was very very good -- so good, in fact, that despite the fact that I had borrowed a copy from my local library, I have decided to purchase my own copy of the book. The offerings in this collection are a great reminder of why Alastair Reynold's books are so greatly anticipated and equally greatly (if not more so) enjoyed by fans of epic, world-building (and world-shattering), cosmic themed stories.
anomieus's review against another edition
4.0
As always, a perfectly satisfying space opera with big ideas, uncomfortable characters, disquieting plots... always a pleasure!